


We Were Just Kids

by intern_at_german_chapterhouse, unfittingpuzzlepieces



Series: We Were Just Kids [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Childhood Memories, Complete, During Canon, F/M, Harry Needs a Hug, Harry Potter Gets a Hug, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, Married Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Memories, POV Harry, POV Harry Potter, POV Sirius Black, Post-Canon, Post-Sirius Black in Azkaban, Repressed Memories, Sad Sirius Black, Sirius Black Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:42:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27608504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intern_at_german_chapterhouse/pseuds/intern_at_german_chapterhouse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfittingpuzzlepieces/pseuds/unfittingpuzzlepieces
Summary: Years after the events of the books, Harry comes to a realization that seems so obvious but carries a lot of weight.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin
Series: We Were Just Kids [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956109
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	1. Harry

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:  
> I do not own any of these characters. Some of them, unfortunately, belong to JKR.
> 
> I do not support JKR or her horrible "views" on gender or sexuality. Trans men are men, trans women are women and anyone who disagress with that should feel free to read something else.

Usually, when I wake up like this, Ginny wakes too.  
But this night, I wake up in a cold sweat, without kicking around or screaming, for once.  
And I just see her lying there, sleeping peacefully.  
And even though she looks so different, so calm, I have to think about her lying in the chamber of secrets.  
I remember thinking she was dead, I remember the dream I just had.

God, she had been so young.  
Eleven, her first year in Hogwarts, so excited to learn, so happy.  
She had still been so innocent.  
Until Tom took that from her. Made her hurt people.  
She was so incredibly young.

And then it hits me.  
I wasn’t that much younger. I was just twelve years old.  
And had already gone through a whole year fighting Voldemort, my best friends had already almost died more than once.  
I think about my own kids, try to imagine them going through what we went through.  
And I don’t even want to imagine it.

They're just children.  
James, Lily and Albus are older than we were back then.  
But I can't picture them fighting for their lives to get to the stone or to the chamber before more of their friends are petrified.  
I can't see them fight Dementors or... Or watch people die.  
I keep remembering all the things me and the others lived through during our time at Hogwarts, all the things we had to see, the things we had to do.  
And I keep spiralling deeper and deeper into all those memories.

Until I reach the battle.  
The dead bodies, Ginny consoling a crying girl on the battlefield, the Weasleys mourning Fred.  
She was sixteen.  
Ginny wasn't even full of age.  
I was. Barely.

All of that was decades ago.  
It feels like a lifetime has passed since then.  
But on the other hand, it feels like yesterday.  
Every time I see Bill's scars.  
Or the ones on Hermione's arm from being tortured.  
The one on the back of my hand.

So many scars.

Some are harder to see. The internal ones.  
The way I still jump at loud noises.  
How ashen George's face turns when he thinks about Fred, even after all these years.  
Molly knitting an extra sweater every Christmas that no one will ever wear.  
Hermione never mentioning her childhood or her parents.  
Ginny's face hardening when she pushes away the memories.  
Ron cracking jokes that fail to mask how painful his own memories are.  
How Neville treats all the students at Hogwarts with silk gloves, trying to shield them from any harm.

And then there's the way our children sometimes walk on eggshells around us.  
Avoiding certain topics, trying not to bring up the worst memories.  
How much it affects them, even though most of them were born long after the battle.

It's my silent crying turning to sobs that finally wakes her up.  
Her expression is so soft and kind that people who don’t know her would never believe the strength she possesses.  
„Oh, Harry.“ She runs her fingers over my face, tracing the tears trickling down my cheeks.  
Through the tears, I can only say one thing. A single sentence, one realization I have put off for most of my life.  


„We were just kids.“


	2. Sirius and Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius and Remus think back to the first time they fought Voldemort, back when they were young.

It all feels so familiar.   
They know there's a war coming, they know people will die.   
Just like last time.   
But something's different.

They sit together in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place. The clock in the hall outside strikes midnight.   
The kids are upstairs, sleeping. Or at least, they should be.   
They probably have a lot to talk about, since they haven't been able to communicate with Harry for most of the summer.   
„They're so young.“ Molly sighs and Arthur puts his arm around her. „We have to keep them out of this. They're just kids.“   
„We weren't much older the first time around.“ Sirius takes a sip of his butterbeer.   
Molly shoots him a look and he knows exactly what she can't put into words.   
„I know, I know. That doesn't make it any better, but there's just no way to keep them out of all of this!“ Sirius turns to Remus for help, but he's looking down at the table.   
Surprisingly it's Snape who speaks up and agrees with him. „Potter is in deep and Weasley and Granger won't leave his side.“   
Sirius can hardly believe what he’s about to say: „What Snivellus says!“

An hour later, it's just Sirius and Remus left.   
„You know I'm right.“   
„Yes. Still, it can't be easy for Molly and Arthur, this is about their son. Remember how it was, back then?  The few of us that actually had parents ? How worried they were?“

They sit in silence for a few minutes.

„Remember, when Lily and James told us they were pregnant?“ Remus is smiling.   
„They were so scared but so happy. So excited for the future.“ Thinking back to it makes Sirius smile too. „Did you know, they were fighting a lot, right before Harry was born?“   
„Yeah, Lily told me all about that. She was determined to fight in the war and James didn't want her to.“   
„God, they were so young when they had Harry.“ Sirius' smile is fading as he tries to remember their faces. James' isn't hard, he just saw it in Harry's earlier that day. But Lily's? Her eyes are the only thing he can see clearly..

„We were all pretty young. Like you said. We were just a few years older than the kids are now. Barely adults.“   
„No.“   
Remus looks at him surprised.   
But Sirius is still caught up in the memories.   
Fighting, killing, almost dying.   
Hearing about friends dying. About what his own cousin did to the Longbottoms…   
And getting the news about Lily and James.   
He can remember James' face so well, because when he died, he had looked almost exactly like Harry does now.   
Because he'd been so young.

„No, we weren't adults.   
We were just kids.“


End file.
